To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discretion is available to (a) Ministers and (b) pension scheme trustees in respect of the annual indexation for retired members of the (i) NHS Pension Scheme and (ii) New NHS Pension Scheme; and whether pension payments will fall should the retail price index inflation fall in the 12 month period to the end of September 2009. (262005)

Current Social Security legislation provides for public service pensions to be adjusted by the same rate as the State Second Pension, and for such adjustments to take place only if there has been an increase in prices over a given period.